Switzerland: An Ardent Swiss Hater Of Islam And Fighter
With Minarets Embraced Islam
13 February 2010
The Swiss politician Daniel
Streich, who rose to fame as a result of his
opposition to mosques in his homeland, has now
embraced the faith he reviled.
Daniel Streich was a member of then Swiss People's
Party (SVP) in Switzerland. A well-known politician,
Streich led the calls for a ban on minarets across
Switzerland. He was active in building anti-Muslim
sentiments throughout Switzerland. This sustained
campaign led to him being given a high ranking
position in the Swiss Army.
Streich left the SVP in November 2009 calling his
party's campaign against Islam as a 'witch hunt.' The
date coincided with the second anniversary of
Streich's conversion which he had kept secret from the
party.
With the party's campaign to ban minarets leading to a
referendum, Streich said the situation had become
unbearable for him.
In the lead up to the ban Streich said "If the
initiative passes, it will be an absolute deep blow
for me. I would have to ask myself, why I applied
myself professionally and politically for over 30
years for this political system. It is not worthy of
Switzerland to force Muslims to practice their faith
in back alleys."
Streich is a military instructor in the Swiss army and
was said to be a committed Christian reading the Bible
and attending Church regularly.
He was also committed to his party (SVP) and stood as
a local politician in the commune of Bulle.
Streich attempted to understand the Qur'an and Islamic
teachings in order to argue against Muslims on tenets
of their faith. In the course of his efforts the
ex-Christian began to agree with and acknowledge the
proclamations of the Qur'an.
"Islam offers me logical answers to important life
questions, which, in the end, I never found in
Christianity," says Streich. He is now a committed
Muslim, who attends the mosque, recites the Qur'an and
prays five times a day.
Streich has now focused his intentions on
participating in the building of the new Conservative
Democratic Party in the canton of Freiburg. Freich's
new movement is in contrast to his previous one and he
aims to promote religious tolerance and peaceful
cooperative living, in spite of the fact that ban on
mosques minarets has gained a legal status.
He is vehemently opposed to the Minaret ban and is
hoping to establish Switzerland's fifth mosque and the
most beautiful in Europe.
Meanwhile the SUV have raised concerns over Streich's
position as Military Commander in the Army in the
aftermath of his conversion citing him as a security
risk. SVP-National Council member Alfred Heer cited
the Fort Hood shooting spree as an example.
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